Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
September 27, 2006
Lost in the Lights

The Phillies/Nationals game was decided on a missed call last night:

The Phillies wasted scoring chance after scoring chance against Washington, the NL East cellar-dweller. They were 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base.

The Phillies also wasted a quality start from Brett Myers (12-7), who held Washington to three runs in seven innings but got the loss.

All of that paled when compared to the gall filling the Phillies because of the Chase Utley home run that wasn't.

With the Phillies leading 2-1 in the top of the second, Utley smacked a ball with home run distance down the right-field line. When the ball landed near the foul pole, first base umpire Rob Drake called it foul. Had it been called fair, it would have been a three-run home run.

Neither Utley, who eventually fouled out to end the inning, nor first base coach Marc Bombard protested.

''When I hit it, I looked up and kind of lost it in the lights,'' Utley said.

Added Bombard: ''I thought it was about six inches foul.''

Slow-motion replays showed a different picture. Utley's ball actually glanced off the foul pole, leaving a mark.

''I couldn't see the ball that Utley hit off the foul pole,'' steamed manager Charlie Manuel said. ''Evidently, nobody on the damn field saw it.''

No one's at fault here, except maybe the lighting at RFK. Utley and Howard now share a home run lost due to an umpire missing where exactly the ball landed.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:52 AM | Games | TrackBack (0)
Comments

re: homers that were and weren't

then again there was that pennant race I read about in the thirties where the cubs played into extra innings, both teams couldn't see because it was dark and Gabby Hartnett hit the homer in the gloamin' to win the pennant.

Well its true Howard and Utley have lost a couple of homers this year but over the long haul they've probably picked up some strike and ball calls that should have gone the other way as well.

In the long run, we're all dead. --John Maynard Keynes

--art kyriazis

ps what i really mean is that in the long extremes of performance regress to the mean and extreme probabilities or possibilities of failure or success tend to even out for a player over a long season with many possible outcomes, just as the molecules of a gas will not stay in one corner of a room but will disperse throughout the room evenly. While Howard and Utley may have had buzzard's luck on those days, they also may have had great luck on other days.

--ak philly

Posted by: art kyriazis at September 27, 2006 11:09 AM

Still, now that the minor leagues' seasons are over, would it really hurt MLB's pocketbook to spring from umps down the foul lines?

Posted by: rbj at September 27, 2006 12:38 PM

As a Philly sports fan, I have to boo art's objectivity.

Posted by: Tom G at September 27, 2006 07:40 PM

Tough. The Braves lost a game winning homer by Jordan at RFK as well. They stupidly put the foul poles a foot or so behind the wall rather than even with the wall.

Yes, it sucks.

Posted by: dave at September 27, 2006 10:21 PM
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